33. Grinnell, IA

I have only spent one night in Grinnell, but it was ridiculous enough to make the town #33 on my list. I don't really know how to describe this place in any way but describing my night there...My friend Kearney and I were supposed to meet up with his friend Carroll at a house called the $lum (yes, it's slum with a money sign as the s) and then go out to an on-campus disco party. Grinnell College, from what I hear, is a really good school for writers, and their basketball team makes line changes as if they were a hockey team (which means they just run as hard as they can for a few minutes at a time and take a ton of shots before subbing out for fresh legs to do the same). I don't know if the town would be much without the college.As Kearney and I approached town, we decided to stop at a convenience store for a couple 40s. With these in hand, we were ready to find the $lum. After about an hour of unsuccessful searching, Kearney remembered hearing of someone named Big John at the school. After about a half hour of asking people where to find him, we were able to locate his dorm. Once inside, it was easy to find his room. We walked in and saw about fifteen kids dressed in bellbottoms, sunglasses, shiny shirts, and fake afros. Big John was asleep next door. We woke him up, explained our situation, and he told us to join the party. After retrieving our 40s from the car, we did just that. Everyone there was drinking 40s of their own, so we fit right in and immediately became the center of attention. Once our bottles were empty, they took them from us and refilled them with a conveniently placed kegerator. They were true friends from the start and even took us to get free passes to the disco party. On the car ride to get the passes, we packed about eight people into a tiny car plus one hanging outside of the passenger side window. After returning to the room, Kearney decided that it would be wise to go find Carroll, so he left with the idea in mind that I would stay put...A few of the more outgoing kids decided to start party-hopping, and I decided to join them. We played kickball inside the Red-Light House, played a little ball at the school basketball courts, and went to play beer pong. I had no idea how I would find Kearney again, but was having enough fun for that not to matter. Eventually, I ended up at the disco party and knew half of the school's students. I saw Kearney there, we exchanged a few words, and then we split ways once again. For some reason, their school allowed on-campus drinking and payed for all of the alcohol. It was a blast, and every person there was decked out in seventies gear having fun. At the end of the night, I somehow found my way to the $lum for the first time. I walked inside and crashed on one of their couches. An hour or two later, I woke up to see Kearney passed out on the other couch. Soon after that, Carroll showed up and crashed on the floor. In the morning, they informed me that I was one step ahead of them the entire night and that everyone knew who I was everywhere they went. Just goes to show how welcoming this town really is.If you are in the mood for a small town college atmosphere, this is the place to go. If you need a place to stay, ask around for the $lum and just go crash on one of their couches... they'll all think you just know someone else that lives there.